


Hard Nut to Crack

by Pinkperson1



Category: Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: Angst, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Introspection, Post-Canon, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:14:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29317701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinkperson1/pseuds/Pinkperson1
Summary: Squall is always looking at Laguna like he isn't sure whether to roll his eyes at him or stalk off in the opposite direction. Laguna introspection about Squall.
Kudos: 5





	Hard Nut to Crack

Squall is a hard nut to crack, that’s for sure. 

At least that’s what Laguna thinks whenever he’s face to face with the kid. He’s always looking at Laguna like he isn’t sure whether to roll his eyes at him or simply stalk off in the opposite direction. 

Maybe Squall thinks he’s childish. Laguna honestly feels like Squall hates him and they barely even know each other. He can’t help but wonder what it was Squall saw in those flashbacks that triggered this revulsion he seems to harbor towards Laguna to the point of avoiding looking him in the eye when speaking to him. He treats Laguna like he thinks he has brain damage or something. Laguna could have laughed at it at first, but it’s gotten to the point where he feels almost insulted. He wouldn’t have wanted to leave such a disgraceful impression on the son he never knew, that’s for sure. 

Whenever Squall comes to Esthar for business reasons, he cuts to the chase without leaving any room for small talk. Okay, maybe it’s a little silly to hope for something so unnecessary, but he feels like it says a lot about how Squall already doesn’t hold him in high regard. And he doesn’t even know that Laguna is his long lost dad yet. Geez, he can already imagine Squall’s reaction upon discovering that. He might actually pass out from shock if he found out his dad was someone who can barely tie his shoes. He never really learned how to, okay? 

Laguna wonders what it would take to convince him that he really is his father. Even if he pulled Squall’s birth certificate out of his pocket, he feels like Squall would just roll his eyes at it, as though Laguna was the biggest goofball for even suggesting such a thing. He can’t blame him, though. He can’t see any resemblance between the two of them personality-wise. I mean, sure they looked kind of similar. Squall has Laguna’s almond shaped eyes and slightly upturned nose, for one. But the commonalities stopped there. 

Despite his perpetually morose countenance, Laguna can’t help but be drawn to Squall. He wanted to turn that frown upside down, darn it! It sucks to find out you have a kid after so long and then realize he’s a total grouch. Not that Laguna thinks there’s something wrong with Squall...He just hates seeing him looking so sullen. It’s like he’s at the mercy of an aura surrounding him that sucks the energy out of people who genuinely want to connect with him. 

He sure is intimidating, though. Squall often looked like he was just daring Laguna to work up the nerve to talk to him. Laguna in turn would feel almost afraid to speak to him, as though he’d be ridiculed for wasting his time with his blathering. And he does tend to ramble out of nervousness when he speaks to Squall. It was like he was expecting him to figure out who he was just by talking to him. Maybe that would be easier, if he found out that way. Then Laguna wouldn’t have to work up the nerve to actually confront Squall himself. He had no idea how that was going to work out to his benefit, that’s for sure. He could already see Squall putting him on blast for daring to tell him the truth and ruining whatever image he’d carved in his mind of who his real father was. Probably someone gritty, level-headed, and responsible...someone unlike Laguna.


End file.
